The Third Trial
by Callisto-HK
Summary: SPOILER ALERT! ** 'What could the third trial be? Sam thought grimly. 'Whatever it is, it can't be worse than the last two ones!... I'm sure, at this point, the third one is going to be a piece of cake.' He had no idea just how wrong he'd been in his assumption! /Set in season 8. Rated T for language./ PLEASE READ THE A/N!


_**A/N:** This is based solely on my pure imagination! Of course, **it's totally spoilery** since it's about the current season's arc; but I haven't written this based on anything I've heard or read!_

_I'm not too happy with the show, ALRIGHT?! This is what I wish I'd see and I'm pretty sure that I won't! *sighs*_

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_Read this and tell me what you think. :)_

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_And by the way, we have 76 days left to **raise $27,595** to reach the goal for **Baby Ackles Gift! The charity is called ****"Hats Off For Cancer".**_

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**. The Third Trial .**

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_'What could the third trial be?'_ Sam thought grimly. _'Whatever it is, it can't be worse than the last two ones! I mean, come on, I had to kill a freaking hell-hound and bathe in his blood & I went to HELL and freed Bobby! I'm sure, at this point, the third one is going to be a piece of cake.'_

At that moment, he had no idea just _how_ wrong he'd been in his assumption!

Right then his phone buzzed as he received a text message from Kevin. His eyes widened as he read it and he loudly called his brother's name. "Dean."

"What?" Dean's annoyed voice came from behind him and startled Sam; he didn't expect Dean to be so close.

"Hey... Here, I've got a message from Kevin."

"What?" that got Dean's attention.

"He says he knows what the third trial is. He's sent me a text with the coordinates of his new place."

Dean headed for the staircase and said, "what are you waiting for, then? Let's go."

.

Kevin looked even worse than the last time they had seen him, but something was different about him; something in his eyes.

The way he looked at them was like he was full of regret or he was really sad about something. It scared Dean, and that wasn't something to dismiss easily, because not much could scare Dean Winchester; only the things that were related to his brother's well-being could give him that feeling and since they were there to hear about the last trial and Sam had to be the one undertaking it, then it meant that Dean had every right to be scared.

"Where did you disappear to, Kid?" Dean growled, hiding his fear.

"I told you, I couldn't stay there anymore. Crowley knew where I was."

Sam sighed. "Crowley didn't know that; he couldn't have with all those demon protection symbols. Are you safe here?"

"I am. For now." Kevin shrugged.

"So?" Dean queried.

"I translated the part about the last trial." Kevin looked at him.

"You said that much in your message." Sam noted. "What's it?"

"You're not gonna like it." Kevin miserably tried to hide a wince.

Dean's stomach did a flip-flop, but Sam just rolled his eyes, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not worse than the last two. Just hit me. What's it?"

Kevin remained silent for a few seconds and pondered.

"Well?" Dean pushed, unable to take the hanging for another second.

"You have to kill your brother." Kevin uttered without any preamble.

"WHAT?" Sam's eyes popped out of his head.

Dean was dumbfounded; he just blinked and tilted his head, not sure if he had heard right.

"You have to _kill_ your brother. Sacrifice him." Kevin repeated more slowly, as if he was talking to a toddler.

"You must've made some mistakes." Sam blurted out. "That's not possible. What if the one undertaking the trials didn't have a brother?"

"I didn't make a mistake." Strangely, Kevin looked offended. "The tablet says that you have to _sacrifice_ your brother for he is the righteous man and his blood should be poured on the king of hell and that's what closes the gates of hell for good."

Sam was lost for words and this time Dean was the one who grunted. "Not with the righteous man, again."

"You've been called that before?" Kevin frowned.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You could say so."

"Then I guess whoever has written this tablet, knew exactly _who_ was going to do the trials. It's meant to happen this way." he shrugged.

"Like hell." Sam growled angrily.

"Look, man." Kevin took a deep breath. "I'm not happier than you are and believe me, I was so shocked that I read it three times to make sure I haven't made a mistake. But it's right there. The righteous man should bleed out slowly for this to work."

"Oh, joy!" Dean said sarcastically, but it was clear that he wasn't anxious anymore. In fact, it looked like he was relieved or even happy. After all, he'd just learned that his brother wasn't in any immediate danger this time. That certainly was something to be happy about.

Kevin saw the sparkle in Dean's eyes and thought that maybe Dean hadn't understood the magnitude of the problem. "Umm, _all_ your blood is needed for this trial." he added tentatively.

"That's not gonna happen." Sam snapped.

"Sam." Dean warned.

"No, Dean. I'm not gonna kill you. I don't care what's written on that stupid tablet, I'm just not-"

"Shut up, Sam. Will you?" Dean growled. "Excuse us for a second." he plastered a smile on his face for Kevin and pulled Sam away.

"Dammit, Sam. We have to do this." He blurted out as soon as they were outside.

"No, Dean. This is nuts. This whole sacrificing and everything. This is not Abraham and Isaac's story."

"But that must tell you something."

"What?"

"That this is _not_ strange for '_God_'" he used the air quotes gesture, "to command someone to sacrifice someone else."

"Dean-"

"Sam, you've come this far. _We_ have come this far. You went to hell, for God's sake. This is the last step and we're taking it."

"No."

"Yes. And that's final. This is _my_ decision to make and I say we'll do this." he stated firmly. "Besides, this is not just about us. Look at Kevin. Look at him," he insisted. "The kid is literally on the verge of dying; he won't feel safe again until those fucking gates are closed. Can you really look him in the eyes and say _'Sorry, you've been through hell this whole time for nothing. Have a good day, Kiddo._' Can you? Because however you change it, that's how it's gonna sound to him and he'd be right to hear it that way."

Without waiting for an answer, Dean turned around and walked back into the Cabin to talk to Kevin.

"We'll do it." he announced. "You take some rest."

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "You sure? I mean,... Well, it's not like the other two trials were easy, but this... This is just insane and you have to sit there and bleed to death."

"I've died before, it's not that bad." Dean smiled kindly. "You don't worry about it. We said we'd close the gates of hell and protect you and we'll do that. Anything else you need to tell us before we leave?"

"Umm, just that the incisions should be made by Sam and with an angel sword." Kevin scratched his head. "This is too much. You don't have to do this, Dean."

Dean squeezed Kevin's shoulder. "Yes, I do, and I said don't worry. When the gates are closed, you can go back to your life and I want you to do it, alright? You deserve it. I'll make sure Sam and Garth will have your back."

Kevin looked up at him with sad eyes and found new respect for the man before him, who was willing to sacrifice himself and die, in a slow and painful way, for the sake of the others.

Dean smiled one last time and started to leave when Kevin's voice stopped him, "Hey, Dean."

Dean turned around and waited for the kid to talk.

"Umm, I... I owe you an apology. I misjudged you and-"

"It's OK, you're new to this and have been stuck in a pretty hard place. It's understandable to snap."

"But you didn't deserve it; you were trying to help. I'm sorry for that and I'm sorry if I called you any names."

Dean nodded and smiled his thanks. "We're good."

"Thank you." Kevin added sincerely, wishing there was another way to end everything. He really didn't want Dean to die and what Dean had accepted to do was simply too much; he knew he, himself, would never do that so easily and full-heartedly.

"Thank _you_." Dean grinned. "You helped us a lot. Now, go get some shut eye for crying out loud. We might need you again and I'd be pissed if you're too exhausted to open your eyes." With that he just walked out of the cabin and closed the door behind him.

And Kevin had a feeling that it was the last time he was seeing those brothers.

.

On their way to find a motel, Sam was silent and his head was turned away from Dean as he stared out of the passenger window.

Dean let him be for the moment, knowing that they were going to have another argument over what they were going to do, but also knowing that he'd win the second round, too.

Stopping the car in the parking lot of the nearest motel, he turned off the ignition. "Go get a room, I'll grab our stuff."

Sam didn't move from his seat and chose to turn a deaf ear to Dean's words.

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Dean stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut; which startled Sam for more than the obvious reason. Dean never treated his baby harshly, unless he was really frustrated and angry.

Well, he was angry too, so he didn't care.

After a few minutes, Dean was back and pulled his door open. "Get the hell out of the car and get your ass to our room; it's-" he looked down at the key in his hand. "115."

Some minutes later, Sam finally decided to join Dean in their room, thinking that maybe he could change Dean's mind. He might still have time. After entering the room, though, all those thoughts left him like dust in the wind.

Dean had drawn a devil trap and had put some stuff on the table which looked a lot like the stuff they used when they wanted to summon a demon.

"Dean?"

Dean continued with what he was doing and didn't look up, but started to explain his actions. "If you have to pour all that blood on Crowley, then you must take him by surprise and you should make sure he can't escape or hurt you."

"Dean, no."

"Sam, stop it. Will you?" Dean finally looked up, "if our places were reversed, wouldn't you insist on doing this? And how come you can do whatever you like or think is necessary to end this shit, but expect me to do differently?"

"Dean, I can't." he whined.

Dean grabbed the angel sword from the table and held it for Sam to take it from him. "I know it's hard and I'm sorry you have to-"

"No." Sam bristled. "You don't get to be sorry for me. You don't get to be worry about me again when it's you who has to die slowly."

"Sam." Dean put the blade down.

"No. You don't get it. How could you? You're the one always leaving. I'm always the one being left behind with your memories. Dean, please. I can't. Not anymore."

Dean sighed and sat down on his bed; he looked up at his brother with sad eyes. "I'd never do this to you if we didn't have to go strictly by the book. But it must be _you_ making the cuts and... And I don't wanna leave you behind Sam. That's the last thing I want. Don't you get it?" he looked away. "And I'm not the one always leaving. You've left many times, yourself. In fact,_ I'm_ usually the one being left behind; or have you forgotten how many times you have left me with or without supernatural reasons?"

Sam's anger evaporated as he heard the remorse and sadness in his brother's voice. He sank into a chair and put his head in his hand. "I can't do this, Dean. I know you probably think that this shouldn't affect me this bad since I didn't even look for you when you went to Purgatory, but-"

"I never thought it could be easy for you, Sam." Dean cut him off, not wanting his brother to go with those destructive thoughts. "Yes, I might not get why you didn't look for me at all, but I know it's harder for you than it is for me. We _have to_ do this, though, Sam. I told you, it's not just about us."

"Why should we always think about everyone else first? When is _our_ turn?" Sam asked in a small voice.

Dean smiled bitterly. "I thought we were past that stage when I explained these things to you, Sammy. You might be my baby brother, but you're not a baby anymore."

Sam looked away.

"Sam. I know it's hard. You think it was easy for me to watch you get drenched in that friggin' hell hound's blood? You think it was fun to watch you cough up blood and then try to hide it? You think I enjoyed watching you go to hell to free Bobby?" The frustration was back to his voice. "Well, newsflash; it wasn't fun. It was killing me inside. But I respected your wish and I let you do it, to prove it to you that I have faith in you and because I knew we had to do this; one way or another."

Sam remained quiet, but pain was clear in his eyes. He'd started to see things clearly and knew that there probably was no way around this one.

"Look, man." Dean sighed. "I... It's still killing me to know that I can't be there to have your back when you're finishing the trials. We don't even know what will happen after this; if you're gonna be able to make Crowley bathe in my blood or if you'll get hurt doing so. We don't even know what kind of mess closing the gates of hell would make; I'm pretty sure it'll get ugly and it's my biggest regret not to be there to help you."

Sam looked up at his brother. "Stop making this about me, Dean."

"Sam, you'll need as much help as you can get!" Dean continued as if Sam hadn't talked at all. "Call anyone you know; Garth's pretty resourceful now; call him before finishing this. You should make sure that you have everything under control; at least as much as possible. And don't leave Kevin alone, you hear me?"

"Dean-" Sam growled, it sounded like Dean was saying his last words and had made his peace, which probably was true.

"And for fuck's sake, don't be a martyr; if I see your ugly face on the other side anytime soon, I'll kick your ass."

"This is not a joke, Dean." Sam snapped.

That irritated Dean again. "You think I don't know that? Dammit, Sam. I don't have a death wish, but it has to be done. We knew, from the beginning, that there was a high possibility for things to end this way and we still decided to do it."

"It wasn't supposed to be you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Dean rose to his feet angrily. "You think it's easy for me to watch you go through this shit? Is that what you think?" he was almost shouting.

"No. Of course not."

"Then what the hell?"

Sam just gritted his teeth.

Dean squeezed the back of his neck as he started to pace the room up and down. After a minute or two he went to their stuff and grabbed a bottle of beer. He opened it, but paused before taking a sip, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.

Sam frowned with curiosity.

"You think my blood should be pure for this to work?" Dean couldn't help but to pose that question.

It wasn't even remotely funny, but Dean had a way to make things sound hilarious and Sam snorted. "Yeah, righteous man and everything."

"Damn." Dean looked at the bottle in his hand hungrily and shrugged before handing it to Sam.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I opened it for you in the first place. Don't look at me that way." Dean reasoned his action.

"And since when you just open a bottle for me and don't get one, yourself?"

Dean didn't say anything.

"Man, you can't possibly think that alcohol in your blood will-"

"Don't wanna risk it." Dean interrupted him.

Sam's shoulders slumped again.

"Drink it and let's get it over with." he sat down on the bed and put his wrists above the buckets he'd put on each side of the bed to gather his blood.

Sam shuddered at that sight and put his bottle down.

"Drink it; I'm just making sure everything is in the right place."

"You're talking like you're getting ready for a party." Sam said glumly.

"This is gonna take a while; I wanna make sure I'm comfy." Dean smirked as he turned the TV on.

Sam's heart sank; his brother was really ready for this, but _he_ wasn't and he was sure he'd need another lifetime to get ready for something like that and even that much time wouldn't be long enough.

"And Sam," Dean called without taking his eyes from the TV. "You do anything stupid to bring me back and I'll kick your ass so hard that your next generation will feel it."

Sam rolled his eyes and stood up to go to the bathroom; he really was close to tears.

He couldn't just cut his brother's wrists open and sit there and watch the life leak out of him.

Splashing a fistful of cold water on his face, he took a deep breath and suddenly saw Dean's last sentence in a new light.

Castiel.

He could seek Cas and ask him to bring Dean back after everything was over. He'd done that before; it shouldn't matter if Dean was dead; he most probably would be able to do that. Even if _he_ wasn't, then that Naomi lady would. And she owed them that much. She'd said that she was willing to help them to close the gates of hell; so bringing Dean back was the least those angels could do for them.

Feeling slightly better, Sam stepped out of the bathroom and looked at his brother.

Dean raised an eyebrow as if to say _'What are you waiting for? Move your ass.'_

Grabbing the knife from the table, Sam walked to the bed and sat down beside his brother.

For a few moments they just stared at each other, communicating on a non-verbal level. Finally, Dean smiled warmly and nodded his head.

Sam reached forward and pulled Dean into a fierce hug. Closing his eyes, he let his brother's steady heart beat calm his own frantic one and received some strength from Dean's firm grip.

Dean wanted to push Sam back and make him get done with the whole thing faster. He knew that every minute they wasted, things would get harder for his little brother, but he stayed quiet and enjoyed their last hug, deciding to let his brother do things at his own pace.

Finally after a good two minutes, Sam pulled away and wiped his eyes. His hands were shaking so badly that when he grabbed Dean's wrist, Dean feared he would cut his throat instead.

"Hey," he put his other hand on Sam's shaking ones. "Deep breaths."

Sam tried to oblige.

"I don't care if I'm dead; you cut bad to leave a scar and I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll kick my ass." Sam laughed shakily.

"You got it right." Dean smirked and watched as Sam cautiously made the first cut on his left wrist and felt the wetness as a tear dropped from his brother's watering eyes on his forearm.

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_**A/N: **I'm still not sure, but I probably won't continue this one. I think it's better if I leave it as it is, open-ended!_

_Thanks for reading and hope you share your thoughts with me! **Really wanna know what you think!**_

_**Sorry for any mistakes**_

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